Vallas ruling just the latest failure

Published 6:53 pm, Friday, June 28, 2013

There is no celebration over a court ruling Friday that removes Superintendent Paul Vallas as head of Bridgeport public schools. It means yet more turmoil for a struggling system desperately in need of continuity. No matter what happens on appeal, there will be doubt and uncertainty throughout the summer months and into the start of the next school year.

And yet it is impossible to miss the pattern that has played itself out over the past two years. This has been a nonstop rush of cut corners, secret deals and special treatment that started with the abdication of the elected Bridgeport Board of Education in the summer of 2011, almost exactly two years ago.

No one ever doubted that the school system desperately needed help, and still does today. But all the planning for the school board takeover by the state happened behind closed doors, with no one outside the circle of plotters, including three members of the school board itself, aware of what was happening until it was posted as an agenda item just before a holiday weekend.

And for all that, it wasn't even accomplished lawfully. The state Supreme Court ruled the takeover invalid, saying that the local school board had not taken all the necessary steps before disbanding.

But by the time that ruling came, all the wheels were in motion that led to Friday's decision. A state-appointed board had taken over and hired Vallas, originally on a short-term basis. That board was illegitimate.

Once a new citywide election was held and yet another new school board took over, matters worsened.

Vallas, though he is a well-known reformer who has led other major systems nationwide, does not have state certification to hold a job as Connecticut superintendent. This is no formality -- it's a state law. The local school board, however, earlier this year approved a three-year contract for him anyway.

It was Vallas' friend and ally, state Education Commissioner Stefan Pryor, who made it possible. He and the state Board of Education came up with a sham of a program at the University of Connecticut for Vallas to complete in lieu of a legitimate certification. Vallas' 13-week UConn session did not come close to meeting statutory requirements for a superintendent certificate, but officials approved it anyway.

A court, however, did not. Superior Court Judge Barbara Bellis ruled, properly, that Vallas' course did not meet the requirements and as such ordered him removed from office.

This is a failure on multiple fronts. It's a failure of Mayor Bill Finch and Gov. Dannel P. Malloy, both of whom were involved in the school board takeover and are responsible for its shortfall. It's a failure of the state school board. It's a failure of the majority on the Bridgeport Board of Education, who pretended a clearly insufficient certification passed muster. But it is not a failure, it must be said, of four local school board members who questioned the deal and now appear prescient.

Most of all, it is a failure of Stefan Pryor. This is an embarrassment for Bridgeport, and it is Pryor more than anyone who brought this upon the city and its school system, cutting corners and clearing obstacles in obvious violation of the law.

This is, ultimately, about the children of Bridgeport public schools. And they have been let down, again. The parties who made this happen must be held to account.